THE city’s mayor, Cllr. Noel Larkin, will be one of a number of Irish public representatives to meet with US President, Donald Trump, on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day.
Mayor Noel Larkin said that while the invitation was quite unexpected, he would be using the opportunity to ‘fly the flag’ for the city when he visits the White House on the evening of March 16.
“The first I heard of the invitation was last Friday [March 3] when we were contacted by the US Embassy in Dublin, and once the invitation was accepted, the usual protocols and security checks had to be put in place.
“While political opinions will differ about everyone, I still think that it’s a great honour for Galway city to have the Mayor invited to the White House. Anything that increases the profile of the city on the international stage has to be positive,” Mayor Larkin told the Galway City Tribune.
The City Council ‘expedition’ to the United States began yesterday morning [Thursday] with an early morning flight to Seattle where Mayor Larkin – along with the City Council’s Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath – have a series of engagements lined up through the weekend.
After that, they are hoping to ‘squeeze in’ a few informal meetings in Vancouver before flying back to New York for a series of engagements involving Bord Fáilte and the IDA.
“As well as meeting with President, I am also hoping to have ‘a word in the ear’ of Taoiseach Enda Kenny on what is really a massive issue for our city – and that’s in meeting an ever-growing housing need,” said Mayor Larkin.
For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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